Imagine you’re browsing at Bloomingdale’s when a security guard taps you on the shoulder and accuses you of shoplifting. He takes you to a private room, sits you down, and runs your name through a database to see if you have any outstanding warrants. Then he tells you that you have two options. The first involves him calling the police, who might arrest you and take you to jail. The second allows you to walk out of the store immediately, no questions asked—right after you sign an admission of guilt and agree to pay $320 to take an online course...

Many consumers don’t like it when stores check their receipts on the way out of the building, claiming it treats all shoppers like shoplifting suspects. But a trio of scammers had no problem showing their receipt at Lowe’s, running a multi-state shoplifting/return scheme for several months. According to WAVE3, the men would start out from their home base in the Danville, KY, area and then drive the 90-ish miles to Southern Indiana, swiping stuff from various Lowe’s stores along the way. But this wasn’t a simple matter of walking out of the store with power tools and hoping no one...

A couple caught shoplifting at a Lauderdale Lakes WalMart left their three young children in their car for several hours after they didn't tell deputies the kids were waiting for them, authorities said. Gerald Moultrie and Tosheba Hope are facing grand theft and child neglect charges following their arrest Monday night, the Broward Sheriff's Office said. Moultrie, 24, and Hope, 30, were being held on $1,000 bond early Tuesday, jail records showed. It was unknown if they have an attorney. According to the BSO, the couple left their three young children - ages 2, 5 and 7 - in a...

The New York Times reported who published Darren Wilson’s address and has been covering Michael Brown has a shoplifting record, Gotnews.com has learned. Julie Bosman and her co-author famously published Darren Wilson’s address in the New York Times page. The apparent conflict of interest wasn’t disclosed to the New York Times, a source with knowledge in the inside of the Times has told Gotnews.com.

Dallas police arrested Diamond Lawrence Thursday after she allegedly stole $11 worth of frozen food from a Walmart and then attacked the employee who stopped her. She scratched him in an attempt to draw blood and infect him with HIV, police said. Then told him, 'You're welcome.'A woman tried to swipe a stack of frozen dinners from a Texas Walmart by threatening a store clerk with HIV, police said. Dallas police arrested 25-year-old Diamond Lawrence Thursday after she allegedly attacked an employee in a bid to give him the virus and make off with $11 worth of stolen food. Lawrence...

Frisco police say Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Randle was arrested Monday evening for allegedly shoplifting at the Dillard’s at Stonebriar Mall. Police were called to the Dillard’s at 8:17 p.m. Monday, said Frisco police spokesman Chad LaPrelle. The store’s loss prevention employees had detained Randle, who was later charged with theft, a Class B misdemeanor. Police said Randle attempted to steal a $39.50-pack of two black Polo underwear and a tester bottle of Gucci Guilty Black cologne valued at $84. He was released from Frisco City Jail early Tuesday after posting a $350 bail, police said. Randle has a...

ROSSMOOR (CBSLA.com) — A 45-year-old woman turned herself in to Arcadia police Monday in connection with a June shoplifting incident at the Westfield Santa Anita mall. But what really sets this case apart is that the woman, during a violent scuffle with a security guard outside over her purse, somehow lost her shirt and bra. Police say the woman left behind her purse, stuffed with stolen merchandise, and ran topless to her white Mercedes-Benz parked nearby. A witness recorded the woman’s license plate as she drove off, police reported. Investigators found the woman’s driver’s license inside her purse. They identified...

VIDEO: Store Clerk Stands Up To Shoplifting Mob June 16, 2014 (CBS) – Chicago police are investigating a bold and massive shoplifting scheme. They walk into a store like any other shopper, only they have no plans to pay. In fact, they grab what they want and suddenly take off. But as CBS 2’s Mike Parker reports, the thieves were not expecting a store employee to put up such a fight. A dozen or so people came to the Grand Crossing neighborhood K & G clothing store, but not in search of advertised bargains. They came to steal, as a...

A man who worked for loss prevention was in Walmart and caught a woman shoplifting. What happened after that is the big question of how to handle situation like this. The man did NOT work for Walmart. By no means are we condoning what the woman did, it obviously is wrong to steal. But did this guy go too far in shaming this woman or did he teacher her a valuable lesson? At the end of the video, you can hear the guy giggling, almost like he enjoyed shaming her and catching it on video.

TILDEN TWP., Pa. - A New Jersey State Police trooper asked an officer not to arrest him on shoplifting charges by mentioning he worked on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's security detail, police said. An attorney for William Carvounis confirmed the trooper has worked on Christie's security detail but denied he asked for special treatment. He also denied that Carvounis shoplifted items from the outdoor retailer Cabela's in Tilden Twp., Berks Co., near Hamburg, on Jan. 8.

Sometimes it’s better to just let things go. That could be the mantra for overprotective retail clerks and loss-prevention agents everywhere following a lawsuit in Santa Rosa civil court by a would-be shoplifter who was badly injured when he was tackled by a grocery store manager. The clash happened when plaintiff Johnny Ramirez was stealing a bottle of rum from the Windsor Raley’s, according to a tentative ruling from Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Arthur Wick. Ramirez tucked the glass bottle into his waistband and ran out the door, only to be stopped by manager Shea Carpenter, who tackled him...

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Two teenage girls suspected of shoplifting were stopped as they were leaving the Victoria’s Secret store in Herald Square, and a security guard checking their bags found what appeared to be a dead baby, police said Thursday. The girls, both 17, were stopped by a store security guard. It was then that one of the girls admitted she had “a baby in the bag,” CBS 2 reported. The guard called police. The girl later told police that she had given birth Wednesday and did not know what to do with the stillborn baby, which had matured...

"Someone could break in and take the kids," said Marilyn Brook. "Or they could coerce the kids to open the door, take the car and the kids and be gone." "Just leaving them unattended is irresponsible in itself and then to go and do something that's illegal while they're sitting in the car is just inexcusable," said Gabriel Gonzalez. NBC12 wanted to see if Thomas could explain what happened.

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Police: Suspects hit hot dog vendor with hammer at local Home Depot. Police are hoping surveillance video will help catch four suspects after a hot dog vender was robbed and attacked with a stolen hammer at a Ferguson Home Depot on Wednesday. view full article A hot dog vendor at a Ferguson Home Depot was robbed of his cellphone and struck in the head with a hammer by four shoplifters. The incident occurred around 3 p.m on Wednesday. The Home Depot is located in St. Louis County at the 10900 block of New Halls Ferry Road. According the CBS St...

LAWRENCE - A Trenton woman shoplifted $250 worth of dresses from Macy’s Saturday afternoon, pushed a security officer, and then led police on a one-mile car chase before crashing and fleeing into a marsh along the highway, police said today. Shabrika Laster, 24, was captured after a 20-minute police search of the marshy area near Route 1 and Interstate 95, Sgt. Joseph Amodio said. Laster was in Macy’s at Quaker Bridge Mall at around 3:10 p.m., and had allegedly stuffed $251.98 worth of dresses under her tube top. “She was approached by Macy’s security,” Amodio said. “She was stopped outside...

I frequently meet friends at Panera in the morning. For the past five years, almost every morning, a minister at a local church walks in. He always carries a large drink cup that he hides in his pant's pocket or down at his side. He grabs a USA Today from the stand near the door, moves to a table and sits down. He reads the paper for a minute or two to establish he's in the building, then walks over to the iced tea dispenser and fills it up. Then he takes six or seven pieces of lemon and squeezes...

KENNEWICK, Wash. (CBS Seattle) — A McDonald’s employee found her own stolen car in the fast food restaurant’s drive-thru. Kennewick authorities tell KEPR-TV that 22-year-old Katherine York was driving Virginia Maiden’s stolen Toyota SUV while going through the McDonald’s drive-thru Tuesday. Maiden told police that her vehicle was stolen from her apartment complex Tuesday morning. After Maiden spotted her car, she called Kennewick police who responded to the scene as York was pulling out of the drive-thru. York and a male passenger were detained, but the unidentified man was later released.

The Mother Of The Boston Bombing Suspects Was Arrested For Shoplifting Last Year Grace WylerApril 19, 2013Natick Police A woman believed to be the mother of Boston bombing suspects Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev was arrested last year for shoplifting at a Cambridge Lord & Taylor department store, according to a police briefing in the Natick Patch. Here's the June 13, 2012 report from the Natick Police: 7:42 p.m.: Loss prevention from Lord & Taylorcalled to report they had detained a shoplifter. Zubeidat K. Tsarnaeva, 45, of 410 Norfolk St., Apt. 3, Cambridge, was arrested and charged with larceny over $250...

Four women who are believed to be part of an organized Russian "retail theft ring" were arrested Saturday after trying to steal $32,000 worth of clothes from the Saks Fifth Avenue store in Boca Raton, police said. The women told police they were visiting Florida from New York but they couldn't say why and claimed to not speak English, according to Boca Raton police arrest reports.

When the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a ban on plastic bags and required businesses to charge a nickel for paper bags, city leaders believed it would be better all around. "I think we've gotten to a place where it's really going to work for the environment, businesses and the community in general," Councilman Mike O'Brien said at the time. But the bag ban is contributing to thousands of dollars in losses for at least one Seattle grocery store, and questions have been raised about the risk of food-borne illness from reusable bags that shoppers don't often wash.

A 27-year-old mother of two has been fatally shot by an off-duty sheriff's deputy after he suspected her of shoplifting at a Houston Walmart. Harris County Sheriff's deputies have said that victim Shelly Frey, Tisa Andrews and Yolanda Craig were stealing when they were confronted by Louis Campbell a 26-year veteran of the force who works as a security guard at the store. According to Campbell the women ran to their car and when he rushed to open the door, they accelerated away - at which point he fired the deadly shot into the car which hit Frey in the...

PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A deadly crash has been reported along Interstate 64 at the Hurricane rest stop. The wreck was reported just after 11 a.m. Thursday. Hurricane Mayor Scott Edwards tells WSAZ.com Hurricane Police got into a pursuit with a driver that was allegedly wanted for taking items from a local store. The chase reached 100 MPH in the eastbound lanes before the driver tried to exit the interstate and crashed into a semi parked at the Hurricane rest stop, according to Mayor Edwards. Mayor Edwards says the man was killed in the crash. Emergency crews are on...

The same day she officially became a candidate for House District 58, Tammy Theis was issued a citation on suspicion of shoplifting last week. The Democrat admitted to the Sept. 6 incident, saying she mistakenly placed a handful of items in an empty box she had under her cart and forgot all about them when she went through the checkout line. The Montrose resident said she was distracted at the time, trying to get boxes to help her father move into an assisted living center while doing her normal grocery shopping at the same time.

For the first time in public, Jacquetta Simmons told her side of the story today, and in front of the one audience who's opinion of the events Dec. 24 at Walmart really matter: A jury of 12 Genesee County resident who tomorrow must decide whether a 26-year-old Simmons intentionally punched 70-year-old Grace Suozzi. Simmons, now 27, said she had no idea she even hit Suozzi until hours later. She said she was horrified to learn she had injured Suozzi and it's been a painful realization ever since. "I feel horrible about it," Simmons said during her only tearful moment on...

A woman was arrested in Oslo on Thursday after walking out of a shopping centre with a 42-inch flat screen television between her legs.The woman, who was accompanied by a male companion, wandered out of the Elkjøp shopping centre in the Skøyen area of Oslo with the substantial item under her long flowing skirt. A witness alarmed the police after spotting the cumbersome couple leaving the shopping centre at around 8pm on Thursday. The woman was able to carry the widescreen television clasped between her legs and well hidden under her long skirt, to a nearby bus stop. The police...

California Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi says she's planning to run for the Alameda County Board of Supervisors seat vacated by Nadia Lockyer. Hayashi — who is on probation after pleading no contest in January to charges that she shoplifted from a Neiman Marcus store in San Francisco — has filed papers indicating her intent to run for supervisor in the November election. In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News the Democrat from Hayward told the newspaper that her opponents would try to use the shoplifting incident to what she termed "smear" her.

Maybe there's something about one of the Alameda County Board of Supervisor's five seats that attracts troubled Bay Area politicians. Less than a week after Nadia Lockyer resigned her seat on the board following weeks of scandalous revelations of drug abuse and a sexual affair with a meth adddict, disgraced Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi, D-Hayward, reportedly inquired about the post. Hayashi, who is termed out of the Legislature after this year, contacted three of the four remaining members of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors to gauge their interest in appointing her to fill out Lockyer's term until 2014, the Bay...

A new survey suggests Americans consider cheating on their taxes more socially acceptable than shoplifting, drunk driving or even throwing trash out the window of a moving car. The Shelton Group, a green marketing firm based in Knoxville, Tenn. had 1,105 Americans complete on-line surveys in an effort to find out what kind of messages will make them adopt more environmentally friendly and energy efficient products and behaviors. Towards the end of the survey, the respondents were asked directly: “How embarrassed would you be if someone you knew found out that you……” and then read a list of presumably undesirable...

Law enforcement officials across the country are puzzled over a crime wave targeting an unlikely item: Tide laundry detergent. Theft of Tide detergent has become so rampant that authorities from New York to Oregon are keeping tabs on the soap spree, and some cities are setting up special task forces to stop it. And retailers like CVS are taking special security precautions to lock down the liquid. One Tide taker in West St. Paul, Minn., made off with $25,000 in the product over 15 months before he was busted last year. “That was unique that he stole so much soap,”...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi pleaded no contest Friday to stealing nearly $2,500 in clothing from the Neiman Marcus store on San Francisco's Union Square after a judge reduced the felony grand theft charge against her to a misdemeanor. Outside court, her attorney said Hayashi had been diagnosed with a benign brain tumor before the shoplifting, and that the condition may have influenced her behavior. Hayashi, 45, pleaded no contest to misdemeanor grand theft. She was sentenced to three years' probation, ordered to pay $120 to a restitution fund and $60 in court costs, and told to stay at...

SALISBURY, N.C. (CBS Charlotte) – Shrimp, rib-eye steak, baby back ribs and smoked turkey. One Salisbury man celebrated his 45th birthday by trying to stuff all of it — almost $300 worth of food — down his pants. Ronald Broadway, 45, was arrested Thursday night in the parking lot of his local Food Lion supermarket, packed with enough meats and fish intended for a birthday and holiday celebration, police said.

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A grocery store security guard was fired after he told the father of a 4-year-old girl that she would face criminal charges for eating from a dried fruit package, a TV station reported. The child's mother, Alissa Jones, said the father wasn't looking when the girl grabbed the package, ate a few pieces of fruit then returned it to a shelf at a Safeway store in Everett, Wash., KOMO reported Wednesday. Safeway previously faced widespread criticism when a Honolulu couple were arrested over stolen sandwiches and had their 2-year-old daughter taken from them briefly by state...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A shoplifting incident led to a shooting at a Walmart, according to police dispatchers. The shooting happened at the Walmart at 7100 Raggard Road. Police said off-duty Jefferson County constable David Whitlaw was shopping at the store around 3:30 p.m. Wednesday when he heard there was a shoplifting suspect outside the store in the parking lot. Police said Whitlaw went to the parking lot, where the female suspect was in a car. Police said she ran over Whitlaw's foot, and he in turn fired a shot into the car, wounding the woman in her arm and hand....

Retailers this holiday season are preparing to protect themselves against a new group of unwanted visitors: swarms of teenagers and young adults who plot via Twitter, phone texts and Facebook to descend on stores and steal merchandise. Law enforcement officials call them "flash robs," a criminal incarnation of the "flash mob" phenomenon in which participants use social media to organize impromptu gatherings, from dances in shopping malls to uprisings in the Middle East. In Philadelphia, about 40 boys swarmed into a suburban Sears in June and made off with thousands of dollars in merchandise including sneakers, socks and pretty much...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A Louisville couple is facing multiple charges after police said they fled a store without their children when they were confronted by security personnel about shoplifting. According to arrest records, 19-year-old Kelsey Grobmeier and 20-year-old Michael S. Kaufman were at a Walmart on Cedar Springs Boulevard at 7 p.m. Wednesday with two small children. Grobmeier and Kaufman were caught by loss prevention agents attempting to steal items from the store, police said. Police said Kaufman had stolen a cellphone and attempted to steal a tablet computer, destroying the display to which the tablet was attached. When confronted,...

Rochelle Pender's family and co-workers were stunned Friday to learn that the smiling Walmart greeter was dead. Police said employees at the 2500 Forest Hills Road store were chasing a suspected shoplifter Wednesday when someone ran into Pender. She fell and hit her head and died two days later. ... A Walmart spokesman said Pender, 71, had been with the company for 15 years and was a beloved member of the team at the Wilson store. "She's going to be greeting people in heaven now," Langley said.

It is far past time for Wal-Mart to either get serious about store security or abandon the effort and pass the savings along to customers. I was hoping to avoid writing about my experiences at the Hutchinson Walmart as a security officer, something I enjoyed for 18 months before resigning to run for public office. My hesitation comes from not wanting to reveal security information that would be harmful to store operations or lead to even greater thievery. I have a deep respect and friendship with a number of Walmart's local managers and employees. I miss working with many of...

SANFORD, Fla. -- Surveillance video from a Sanford Walmart helped lead detectives to a suspect in the theft of more than $1,000 of computer hardware. The video shows a woman hanging out in the electronics section, and then placing external hard drives in a bag under her shirt, police said. Police said the woman then went into the bathroom, dumped the security chip in the packaging and left the store. Investigators went to Craigslist and found the same hard drives for sale. Undercover officers then set up a meeting with the woman and offered to purchase the hardware. Police said...

SAN DIEGO - Five illegal immigrants who allegedly shoplifted $300,000 worth of merchandise from San Diego-area Ross Dress for Less stores over the past two years were behind bars Thursday. William Cruz, 26, Maria Oros, 45, Diana Palazios, 37, Benita Rubio, 46, and Heriberto Tolentino, 42, who all lived in San Marcos, were arrested Wednesday in Encinitas, Sgt. Tom Poulin said. Two vehicles they were in when they were pulled over were packed with an estimated $6,000 worth of clothes and accessories. Due to the size of the load, they "could barely sit in the backseat of their cars," and...

A Dorchester woman and her mother were arrested Tuesday after she allegedly walked out of a shoe store with a pair of stolen boots hidden under her baby stroller and her mother allegedly scratched a police officer when they were confronted, police said. Kyana Jinks, 22, of Dorchester, is charged with shoplifting, and her mother — Prensila Jinks, 44, of Roslindale — is charged with assault and battery on a police officer, police said.

EDMOND, OK -- Two women are arrested for shoplifting and police say they used their bodies to conceal the goods. Edmond police authorities say it was at the Edmond TJ Maxx that loss prevention officers found the duo stuffing items under their belly fat and breasts. They say they took four pair of boots, three pair of jeans, a wallet and gloves; $2,600 worth of store merchandise. Ailene Brown, 28, and 37-year-old Shmeco Thomas were arrested for shoplifting and are facing felony charges. Officer James Hamm said, "These two were actually concealing them in areas of their body where excess...

Two women in Oklahoma were stopped as they tried to smuggle $2,600 of clothing and accessories inside their fat rolls. Ailene Brown, 28, and Shmeco Thomas, 37, were busted by a TJ Maxx employee as they tucked away FOUR pairs of boots, THREE pairs of jeans, a wallet and some gloves in the creases under their breasts and across their bellies. Some of the goods were also found in their handbags.

NEW YORK, A New York 19-year-old accused of shoving a turkey breast into his pants at a grocery store told a newspaper he took a sandwich but denied stealing the breast. Deon Williams turned down a plea deal with a six-month jail sentence for the robbery charge, claiming he was falsely accused of shoving the 12-pound Boars Head turkey breast into his pants and attempting to smuggle it out of the Fine Fare supermarket, the New York Post reported Thursday. "I didn't do it," Williams told the Post. "OK, I stole a cold-cut sandwich because I was hungry, but I...

FORT PIERCE, Fla. -- Authorities have arrested a Fort Pierce man accused of trying to steal a $6.99 jumbo pack of hot dogs from a Treasure Coast supermarket. The St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office said Allan Polhemus, 52, was arrested on a theft charge. According to the incident report, an employee spotted Polhemus stuff a Publix 16-pack of jumbo hot dogs in his pants and walk out of the store.

A former Miss USA from Dallas was arrested this week on a shoplifting charge at a Target in Denton – accused of stealing beauty cream. Shannon Marketic, 39, was seen taking $86 worth of Olay Professional ProX skin treatment and two baby items, according to a manager at the Target in the 1800 block of Douth Loop 288.

Rudy Giuliani’s daughter Caroline was busted for shoplifting today at an Upper East Side beauty and skin care shop, police sources said. The 20-year-old was arrested at a Sephora store near the E. 86th Street home she shares with her mother, Donna Hanover, the television personality and former city first lady, before her bitter split from the tough-on-crime mayor. Caroline, the youngest of the former mayor’s two children, was taken to Manhattan’s 19th Precinct stationhouse for processing. She is a student at Harvard University. Caroline allegedly stole makeup from Sephora's E. 86th Street and Lexington Avenue store around 2 p.m.,...

The A & N Food Market on Main Street in Flushing, Queens, has an almost entirely Chinese clientele. The inventory includes live eels, turtles and frogs, frozen duck tongue and canned congee. These goods, like products sold in every neighborhood of the city, attract their share of shoplifters. But A & N Food Market has an unusual way of dealing with the problem. First, suspected shoplifters caught by the store’s security guards or staff members have their identification seized. Then, they are photographed holding up the items they are accused of trying to steal. Finally, workers at the store threaten...

Do Walmart and other retailers support the destruction of American values through their lack of willingness to stop shoplifting? How much is their lack of enforcement costing you and me? The answer appears to be YES and it's costing us BILLIONS. Last year Walmart reported that they had lost $3 billion due to theft of products. That's just at Walmart. Most retailers reported losses in the same range for their market share. Given the poor economy I would expect this year's losses to be much higher. How is this happening? Two reasons: 1. Once a shoplifter makes it outside, they...

SPRINGFIELD – Seventy-five bottles of body lotion stuffed down his pants did not help Chamil Guadarrama make a slick getaway. Guadarrama, 30, of Framingham, was arrested Wednesday night on a charge of shoplifting more than $250 from Bath & Body Works in the Eastfield Mall, Sgt. John M. Delaney, aide to Police Commissioner William J. Fitchet. When he was apprehended by mall security officers Jane Colon and Jeff Lawlor and held for police after a brief foot chase, Guadarrama was found with 75 8-ounce glass bottles of lotion stuffed into his pants, Delaney said.